Developed and published by Brain Seal Entertainment, Dark Quest 4 is the latest game in the Dark Quest series. It is also the 10-year anniversary of the first game, which launched in 2015. Dark Quest 4 is a turn-based dungeon crawler that brings the classic HeroQuest board game to the computer. Let’s jump in and see if this latest game in the series is any good.
In this review, I will be going over the following topics.
Story
The Dark Sorcerer has summoned a new evil puppet, Gulak, to do his bidding. Gulak has already started building an army and terrorizing the local villagers. Many villagers have gone missing without a trace. You must build up your band of heroes to take on the evil forces of the Dark Sorcerer one again. Will you be able to stop him?
Gameplay
In Dark Quest 4 you will be taking your heroes on quests three at a time. This requires you to find synergies between your heroes so you know who will fit best in each party.
Between each quest, you will spend your gold at the camp to improve your party before heading off on the next adventure. Let’s go over each of the elements and then I will give you my thoughts on the game.
Characters
There are ten unique characters in Dark Quest 4. Each one has its own stats and special abilities. Some of the heroes include the archer, the fire mage, the knight, and the prince. The heroes do not feel very strong to start with, but they quickly ramp up as the game progresses.
Each character plays very differently. For example, the knight has high defense, especially when equipped with a shield. This means he hardly takes any damage and can tank for the more frail heroes. The prince, on the other hand, has low health and defense, so he does not like to engage. Instead, he commands other units to do things. This includes allies and foes alike.
Heroes don’t level in Dark Quest 4, but you can buy better gear and abilities for them when you are at the camp between quests. There are both passive and active abilities. The combination, along with synergies with other characters, can make for some pretty powerful heroes.
Camp
At the camp, there are four different shops for you to visit. These include the Blacksmith, Alchemist, Trainer, and Merchant. This is where you will spend the gold that you find during your adventures. Other than the abilities from the Trainer, all of the items can be freely passed between heroes.
The Blacksmith is where you can find shields, weapons, and other trinkets to equip your heroes. These will boost some of their stats, such as saves against traps or physical attacks. The Alchemist is where you will find potions for healing or even gaining extra actions. The Trainer can teach your heroes some pretty unique abilities, for a price.
Lastly, the Merchant will provide you with some very powerful trinkets with interesting abilities—things like duplicating your hero for a combat engagement or instant teleportation. You will need all of these items at your disposal if you expect to make it through the dungeons alive.
Quests
Dark Quest 4 has 30 handcrafted quests for you to conquer with your heroes. Some of them may be harder than others, depending on who you bring on the quest. You can also modify the difficulty by adjusting the enemy’s or hero’s health and the hero’s attack power.
Only three characters can go on each quest. All of the heroes that do not go on the current quest will stay at the camp to rest. Well-rested characters will have bonus health for when they do go on an adventure. However, heroes returning from a quest will have fatigue. This reduces their health and encourages you to take other, more rested heroes on the next adventure.
The Elder will give you a description of each quest before you go on it, as well as some notes. Once you select your three heroes, the quest begins. Each floor of the dungeon is made up of many rooms and chambers. You won’t know what is in the next room until you open the door. Hopefully, it is something you are prepared for.
There are treasures, traps, and other things to discover throughout each dungeon. Most traps are marked on the floor. This makes it easy for you to know where they are and try to disarm them with someone in the party who has a high defense against traps. However, there are also some traps disguised as treasure that cannot be avoided.
Each quest will have you adventuring deeper into the dungeon until every floor has been cleared. Make sure you are gathering every treasure you see along the way because once you exit the last floor of the dungeon, the only way to go back is to start the quest all over again.
Combat
Each dungeon in Dark Quest 4 is filled with monsters. There are over 40 unique monsters in the game. You will have to fight with magic, wit, and steel to make it out alive. All the monsters act differently. Some might just mindlessly charge at the nearest hero to them, while others will strategically seek out the weakest character in your party.
A good defense in Dark Quest 4 is a good offense. Mainly because there aren’t many defensive abilities. Other than the knight who can stand there and tank all the hits. To a certain point. So, it’s better to be aggressive and take out as many enemies as you can. The more you kill on your turn, the less there is to attack you back.
Combat is turn-based, with turn orders being based on each unit’s initiative. You have just one action per turn to either attack or move. When attacking, you will always select your target before you select where to attack from. It feels a little backwards at first, but it’s easy to get the hang of it quickly.
Combat can be pretty fast until you get to the later quests, when some of the bosses have quite a bit more health. Don’t take the smaller enemies lightly, though.
If you have more than one enemy next to you, then they get bonus damage for flanking you, which they love to do. So make sure you are managing your enemies wisel,y whether it is a giant spider or a bunch of undead chickens.
Map Creator
Lastly, I wanted to talk about the Creator Mode in Dark Quest 4 briefly. This mode will allow you to build your own custom dungeons for you to play and share. You can find other players’ creations in the Workshop on Steam.
The creator tool has all the assets of the game readily available for you to use. So you can use all the creatures, switches, and traps that you want. You can also make your custom dungeon with multiple floors. This is a great tool for you to make the toughest dungeon to run your favorite heroes through.
Conclusion
With all that said, is Dark Quest 4 worth picking up? For only $20 USD, it is kind of hard to say no.
The game really does a lot right and oozes the feel of old dungeon-crawler board games like HeroQuest. It is a nice taste of nostalgia for those who used to play those kinds of board games. Don’t think you’ll get anything out of it if you haven’t played those kinds of games, though.
Dark Quest 4 does a lot of things right. It is fun mixing up your party with each quest to find synergies between heroes.
The slow progression of buying more abilities and trinkets only when you have enough gold gives the game a nice pace. All the heroes feel different and have unique abilities, which are fun to use. Of course, each of the quests was enjoyable to play, and none of them felt like a task or a fetch quest.
If you are looking for a new turn-based dungeon crawler with a nod to the late 80’s, then Dark Quest 4 is probably what you are looking for.
Even if you are looking for a new turn-based game in general, this is a fun little game that you might want to check out. Feel free to go check out their Steam page if you want to buy the game. There is also a bundle to get all four games in the series at a discount.
A review key for this game was provided by the developers at Brain Seal Entertainment.
